pentagon. instead, hagel was criticized for his past statements on iran, israel and the u.s. nuclear strategy. harris? >> harris: well, steve, after what you could call a rather bumpy confirmation hearing to say the least, what are hagel's chances at this point? >> well, as it stands, at least 12 republicans do plan to vote against hagel. his confirmation, even though is he a republican himself. only two have said they would vote for him at this point. and they are mike joehand of nebraska anded that cochran of mississippi. many are predicting hagel will be confirmed. >> i think for a cabinet office, 51 votes is generally considered the right standard for the senate to set and at that level, i think he makes it but i don't think he makes it with a lot of room to spare. >> senator blunt is among those planning to vote against hagel citing too many inconsistencies, harris? >> harris: you know, stif with that margin that he mentioned the 51 votes you wouldn't need very many republicans to vote in favor, nevertheless. thank you very much. >> okay. >> in alabama, prayers for a little boy

of defense leon panetta also warns the cuts with hit the pentagon especially hard. while a great deal of the money would come from military training units 000s of civilians could face big pay cuts and even layoffs. particularly in two states. jennifer griffin at the pentagon for us tonight. >> reporter: iif the deep budgt cuts go into effect in 8 days time the hardest hit states will be california and virginia. 17% of the defense cuts in virginia will likely fall on one community known as hampton roads. in fact, the human impact of the sequester on small businesses in this area, these businesses contract to the navy, it is already being felt. tom taylor owns a ship repair business near norfolk. some of his contracts with the navy are already in jeopardy. >> it is not like turning on a picket. you don't turn it on and turn it off. if it is canceled these things are are months or years in the planning stage. if they are canceled they don't come right back, you know. so that is pretty alarming. >> i want to know when am i looking dark am i getting laid off in march or april. in you are o

department's top leadership and a few workers considered essential to maintain the pentagon security. he said, quote, the rigid nature of the cuts forced upon this department and their scale will result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force. house speaker john boehner for his part responding, president obama's ultimately responsible for our military readiness, so it's fair to ask what is he doing to stop his sequester that would hollow out our armed forces, end quote. john kerry also calling on congress to prevent what he calls senseless spending cuts and not just at the pentagon. today secretary kerry gave his first big speech since taking office and james rosen is live at the state department tonight to fill us in on this. what did he say today? >> good evening. this speech was given in advance of secretary kerry's first overseas travel which will be upcoming in a few days. speaking at the university of virginia, secretary kerry emphasized the degree to which america's foreign policy is governed by her economic well-being and said the current budget battle should not c